Deepika Padukone opens up on mental health, lauds media’s role in creating awareness

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Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone has always been very open about her battle with depression. The actor, who was in the capital recently for her Live Love Laugh Foundation’s inaugural Lecture Series, discussed the stigma surrounding mental health. Talking about mental health, Deepika said that while the conversation around mental health awareness may have opened up a lot in recent years but there is still a long way to go.

“As far as the conversation around the causes of mental health is concerned, I think we’ve come a long way. But we certainly have a long way to go in terms of creating more awareness… “I think the conversation has opened up. I don’t think that there’s as much stigma as it used to be four years ago,” Deepika told reporters at the event on Sunday.

The Padmaavat star was diagnosed with anxiety and clinical depression in 2014 and went public about it a year after. In 2015, she launched the foundation to create awareness around mental health.

The 33-year-old actor said that the idea behind the Lecture Series was to bring people from different walks of life together and create more awareness about the importance of mental health.

“(It’s about) inviting people from different professions, from various parts of the world, but most importantly, people who are passionate about mental health and have them talk to us about their journey, their experience,” she said.

“It’s about taking it to the next level,” she added.

The actor also praised the media for its role in opening up the conversation on mental health. Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Padma Shri awardee Siddhartha Mukherjee delivered the first lecture in the series. Deepika’s sister, professional golfer Anisha Padukone was also a part of the event. Also present at the event were the actor’s parents, father Prakash Padukone and mother Ujjala. Bollywood actor Sharmila Tagore was also present at the event.